According to a new study, the number of American citizens seeking second citizenship has quadrupled in the past two years.
More Americans are applying for EU citizenship than ever before, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing government statistics and independent citizenship consultants. According to citizenship firm Arton Capital, Americans are seeing more Americans applying for second citizenships in 2022 than in 2020 — and this number does not include those applying for third- and fourth-country passports.
About 40% of Americans are eligible for EU citizenship, according to Global RCG, a consultancy that helps Americans obtain foreign citizenship and residency. Some countries have lower barriers to entry than others. For example, prospective Italian citizens need only show family ties to the country since 1861, while Ireland allows Americans from four distant generations to apply as one of their grandparents, whose grandparents were born there.
Twice as many Americans – 3,284 – applied for Irish passports in the first six months of this year than in 2021, according to government statistics, while citizenship advisory firms reported similar interests among potential citizens in Italy and Germany. Italian citizenshipwaiting listThe New York consulate alone includes 3,700 names.
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The Florida-based consultancy’s Italian-American Citizenship Assistance Program has seen interest double from last year, and applications will kick into high gear in late 2021.Politics is the main reason people look outsidecompany director Giorgio Nusiner told Bloomberg.
Irish Citizenship Consultants founder Kelly Cordes told the outlet: “Whenever there’s a big political decision that has the potential to dramatically change the daily lives of Americans, we see a spike in searches from both sides of the political spectrum..” Although Irish abortion laws are stricter than most US states, investigations have tripled following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade and allow states to set their own abortion policies.
Like Americans who promise to move to Canada if an election isn’t planned, those who ask citizenship consultants about a second passport may not act on their impulses.LikelyGerman immigration lawyer Julie Schaeffer told Bloomberg. She noted that, like Ireland, which has stricter abortion laws than many US states, she has also seen an increase in investigations following Roe’s reversal. As the Covid-19 pandemic has alerted many Americans to the limitations of their US passports, other global citizens are interested for economic or travel reasons.
